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There is a reason why, to this day, the best pitchers in baseball are rewarded with the Cy Young award.
Denton True "Cy" Young was the single most dominant pitcher in baseball at the turn of the century. Pitching for teams like the Cleveland Spiders and St. Louis Perfectos (the predecessors to the Cardinals), Young put up numbers that are unimaginable by today's standards.
In the 1890s, he topped the 20-win mark nine years in a row and turned in three seasons with over 30 wins. Between 1891 and 1896, Young averaged 31 victories a year. His career total of 511 wins may be the single most untouchable record in baseball, rivaled only by his 749 complete games.
In the 1890s, Young averaged nearly 400 innings per year, topping out at an unfathomable 453 innings in 1892. Today, a pitcher who throws 200 innings in a season is considered to be a workhorse.
For his efforts, by the year 1899, Young was earning the National League maximum wage of $2400. Towards the end of his life, in the early 1950s, Young couldn't believe how much salaries had gone up.
"Gosh, all a kid has to do these days is spit straight and he gets forty-thousand dollars to sign," he said wistfully.
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